Bloomsbury Lit in Colour Research Report

Bloomsbury Lit in Colour: A spotlight on plays and drama

A campaign created by Penguin Books UK and The Runnymede Trust, to support UK schools to make the teaching and learning of English Literature more inclusive.

We are grateful to both the National Theatre and Open Drama UK for their support and guidance with our Lit in Colour research.

We are also extremely thankful to the representatives from publishers, awarding bodies and theatre organisations, and to the teachers, practitioners, authors and playwrights who contributed to this research.

For a full list of acknowledgements, see page 26.

“The National Theatre are proud to be supporting the Lit in Colour campaign as we believe that all young people should have the opportunity to see and study plays which are reflective of their own lives and experiences. We welcome Bloomsbury’s focus on drama texts in particular as we feel drama and theatre have the power to open up discussions and encourage students to ask questions.

This report forms the first important step in opening up a dialogue between teachers and the theatre industry so that we can offer meaningful support as teachers begin to explore and choose new texts.

We hope that through our productions, supporting resources and training for teachers we can help introduce students to a new selection of plays which are exciting, challenging and relevant.”

Jane Ball, Education Manager, National Theatre

“It is in classrooms where young people encounter both reflections of themselves and windows into other worlds, cultures and perspectives. Whilst all educators know that text choices for the classroom should be chosen to promote this idea, it is appreciated that there are other issues at play.

The Lit in Colour campaign acknowledges this and encourages positive change, gives teachers a way of thinking differently and is supporting change from within publishing.

For Open Drama UK, being involved in this research has been an honour – having various facets of the education system come together to influence curriculum resources, to reflect and to consider ways to support progress towards a common goal is exciting!

As drama teachers and theatre educators, it is pleasing to have plays recognised and given the status they deserve as they play an important part in the development of young people’s view of their world in literature too.”

Alison Warren, Open Drama UK

“Bloomsbury’s involvement in the Lit in Colour campaign, founded by Penguin Books UK and The Runnymede Trust, began after two of our playtexts – The Empress by Tanika Gupta and Refugee Boy adapted for the stage by Lemn Sissay – were selected by Pearson Edexcel to be added to their English Literature specification from September 2019. These plays are also part of the Lit in Colour Pioneers Pilot programme, in which 100 schools have committed to diversifying their English Literature curriculum by changing to a new set text for examination from the Pearson Edexcel GCSE or A level English Literature qualifications, starting from September 2022. Pilot schools are given copies of the chosen set text along with free resources and support for teaching.

While we have been working for some time to diversify the voices and stories we publish in our play portfolio, we are keen to do more. We recognise the key part we play as publishers in the cycle of what is published and what is studied.

Our commitment to Lit in Colour has moved beyond the Pioneers programme, as we bring our unique focus on drama texts to the wider project. We feel passionately about the importance of plays as a genre of study at GCSE and A Level. We want to help move the curriculum forward, to understand what teachers and students need in order to study more diverse writers, and to work with our authors and partners to ensure they have the resources and texts they need. We know this process will take time and involve more than simply shaking up the list of set texts on English and Drama GCSE and A Level specifications. We are committed to playing our part in effecting change over the long term so that, as one of our Advisory Panel put it, Lit in Colour no longer needs to exist.

It is essential that all of us – whether publishers, theatre makers, theatre educators, teachers or examiners – work together to create change, since none of us can do it alone. We are excited to work with teachers and students to understand what barriers to change they face, and to involve theatre practitioners and exam boards who, like Bloomsbury, have a key role to play in delivering the change we all want to see.”

in Colour, Penguin Random House

Bloomsbury Lit in Colour: A spotlight on plays and drama

A spotlight on plays and drama

Margaret Bartley, Editorial Director for English, Drama and Performance, Bloomsbury

“Diversity in education cannot be solved by one entity alone, so the addition of Bloomsbury’s knowledge and expertise in plays and drama to the Lit in Colour campaign underscores the importance of collaboration.”

Zaahida Nabagereka, Head of Social Impact, Lit

A brief summary of key findings you'll find in the report

The state of play

There is no doubt about the positive impact and influence of drama in classrooms. Drama (excluding Shakespeare) is not compulsory in the GCSE English Literature specification, yet GCSE exam data from 2019 assessments shows that 79% of candidates answered a question on a drama text. Drama can be more accessible than other genres and many enjoy the interactivity that the format brings.

Education policy over a number of years has stripped away drama, music and the creative arts from the core curriculum, so that the budget and resources for creative subjects in schools is being eroded. A 2015 curriculum change to English Literature removed the necessity for a student to watch a live production, leading to systemic changes in the teaching of drama texts as part of the English curriculum, which are difficult for teachers to counter. It is clear that more needs to be done to promote engagement and rejuvenate the whole area.

Under the 2022 English Literature specifications, 90% of drama texts taught at GCSE and 96% at A Level are written by white playwrights.

Introducing new play texts to the classroom is a big undertaking and requires more time and energy from teachers who are already stretched and time-poor. It is clear that teaching a new text is a massive undertaking for teachers who need to create new schemes of work and lesson plans and research the text’s critical and performance history, and who prefer to look to past papers and evidence of the approach taken in assessment for benchmarking their teaching plans. This understandably means teachers often choose to stick with the familiar and reliable options with which they have achieved positive learning and exam outcomes.

Change is coming

Our research shows a clear desire among teachers to expose pupils to a diverse range of literature, driven by the need to reflect the student cohort and ensure students see themselves represented in the texts they study. There is also a desire among teachers to share diversity of thinking and to hear voices other than their own. Importantly, there needs to be representation of a variety of backgrounds and lived experience, including, but not limited to, race-related issues.

This desire from teachers is met with student demand. Of the teachers surveyed, 65% said there was a demand from their students to study more ethnically diverse writers.

What lies ahead?

Just two years on from the launch of the Lit in Colour campaign, we have started to see efforts being made by all five major awarding bodies in England and Wales to diversify the set texts within both GCSE and A Level specifications for English and Drama. Real change is coming.

Empowering teachers to take a different approach

One of the main themes identified in both the survey and the interviews was teachers’ perceptions of their own lack of knowledge and confidence, preventing them from teaching more diverse texts. In total, 66% of survey respondents said that they would like specific support to teach texts that tackle issues relating to race or ethnicity, otherwise, as one interviewee told us, they “worry about saying the wrong thing, or doing the wrong thing, or not getting a part of the story.”

Empowering teachers to take a different approach does not mean they need to become experts, but they need to be given the tools to teach with greater confidence.

Teachers told us that they also have more freedom at KS3 to choose diverse texts, as the curriculum is not prescribed by exam specifications. Teachers therefore have more freedom to introduce drama texts from diverse writers at KS3 and build confidence in the teaching of these texts, before being limited by exam specifications in higher key stages.

There is also an opportunity to teach the familiar set texts differently while they remain on the syllabus, considering how they are taught alongside new texts from diverse writers, through a different lens that resonates more with today’s students, such as gender, identity or class. Reframing the way established canonical texts are presented offers teachers and students enriching ways to engage with them alongside newer texts.

Working together

Representation in Drama, the National Theatre, Bloomsbury and many others are working with exam boards, teachers, playwrights and academics to create new play editions and teacher resources to facilitate the changes to the curriculum we all want to see.

With any new play suggested, it's clear that support needs to be delivered by publishers and the theatre community to ensure that teachers feel fully equipped and confident to teach these new plays.

With the right support and resources in place, 84% of respondents said they would be likely to choose a new drama text for GCSE English Literature. We asked teachers about the support they need when teaching drama set texts. The top three resources respondents listed were recordings of performances (67%), model student answers to exam questions (65%) and resources on social/cultural context (57%).

The role of the cultural sector

Teaching drama as an experience through live performance is critical to the introduction of new plays. Having access to staged performances through services such as Bloomsbury’s Drama Online, which has collections of filmed live performances including those from the National Theatre and Shakespeare’ s Globe, is vital to bringing the text to life, inspiring debate and illustrating what the author or playwright is trying to convey.

When diverse texts are performed in theatres and included on the school curriculum, more could be done to engage the playwrights themselves. There needs to be more opportunity for playwrights to talk about their work and its context, and for schools and teachers to engage with playwrights directly, for example through school visits and author Q&As.

Our research shows that publishers, theatre makers, examiners and teachers want to work together to deliver change to the curriculum. If we empower teachers to switch texts with confidence, our young people can continue to benefit from the positive impact and influence studying plays offers them. Bloomsbury is committed to playing our part in delivering this change through our proactive programme of new play text publishing and curating our rich backlist of plays, supported by the resources teachers and students need to study and enjoy them.

Bloomsbury Lit in Colour: Executive summary

Under the 2022 specifications, There are currently just

90% 2

of drama set texts available at GCSE for English Literature are written by white playwrights.

In England in 2019,

79%

of GCSE English Literature candidates answered an exam question on a drama text.

drama set texts by Global Majority writers available at A Level English Literature.

of students answered an exam question on a play by a Global Majority writer in 2019 assessments in England.

English Literature students (65%) answered on An Inspector Calls in 2019 assessments.

With the right support and resources,

84%

of survey respondents said they would be likely to choose a new drama text for GCSE English Literature.

93% 349,337 66%

2/3

of survey respondents said there is a desire from their students to study the work of more ethnically diverse writers.

of survey respondents said they would like to see a more ethnically diverse range of writers offered by exam boards.

of survey respondents said they would like more support to teach texts that tackle issues relating to race or ethnicity.

Pooja Ghai, Artistic

“We must reclaim, re-learn and re-look at our colonial history to understand why we are where we are today. Our histories are inextricably linked, we should face and embrace it. Literature is a perfect bridge to that.”

Director, Tamasha

Bloomsbury is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and is opposed to discrimination, bullying and harassment. We condemn individual and systemic racism in society in all its forms. We are dedicated to actively and continuously improving both our industry’s practices and our own company's. As individuals and as a company we unite in these values as policy and pledge.

As part of Bloomsbury’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan, we want our authors to be representative of society, our publishing to be culturally rich with an ever-expanding readership and to form strong partnerships and initiatives to show demonstrable impact in widening access and improving literacy.

We recognise the urgent need to support people from all backgrounds and identities to become part of the global publishing industry, enabling diverse voices to both reflect and shape our culture and society.

The terminology we have used within this report is true to the words of the research participants. Language around race and ethnicity can vary, and we appreciate they are not fixed categories and are attributed to personal identity and preferences.

Race and ethnicity are used within this report. For clarity, race is a social construct which was created for the purpose of categorisation, based mainly on physical attributes or traits (such as skin colour – for example, white, Asian or Black). Ethnicity refers to a shared cultural experience or heritage, such as language, traditions or religion.

In the context of this report, diversity is in reference to the diversity of the ethnicity of authors, characters, teachers and school students. Diversity also includes other categories underrepresented in our schools, such as disabled and LGBTQI+ people. Other terms used throughout the research include: ethnic diversity; ethnically diverse writers; ethnic backgrounds; different ethnicities; ethnic minority background; Global Majority; writers of colour.

White privilege refers to the "unquestioned and unearned set of advantages, entitlements, benefits and choices bestowed on people solely because they are white. Generally white people who experience such privilege do so without being conscious of it". (Glossary | Racial Equity Tools, 2022).

Annie Muyang, Diversity and Inclusion Manager, Bloomsbury

This report draws on research from multiple sources: a quantitative survey, in-depth interviews, roundtable discussion and desk research. Participation was entirely voluntary. Research was carried out by independent research company Oriel Square Ltd and supported by Insightful Research

The online survey carried out in June 2022 targeted teachers teaching GCSE English Literature in England and Wales. Of the 141 respondents, 16.3% identified as Black, Asian or of multiple ethnic backgrounds, compared to 10.4% of teachers in England.

Interviews were conducted with a sample of four teachers selected either because they were taking

part in the Lit in Colour Pioneers Pilot programme, or because they had responded to the survey and agreed to take part. The interview with Kristi Simpson, Assistant Head of English at Droitwich Spa High School, has been rendered as a case study within this report.

As a response to the teacher research, Bloomsbury, the National Theatre and Open Drama UK hosted a roundtable discussion with stakeholders from publishers, awarding bodies, theatre organisations, practitioners, authors and playwrights to discuss how the drama and theatre community could support schools with the teaching of diverse drama texts. A full list of participants can be found on page 26.

Bloomsbury Lit in Colour: Terminology and methodology

Finding those stories and being able to embrace something that shows you that it’s not about throwing away the European canon – there’s enough space for all identities and stories to be present!”

“I enjoyed Drama at secondary school and a key part of this was that my Drama teachers brought me to London to visit the London theatres. We watched different types of shows and performances. This meant that as a young adult I never questioned whether I could buy a ticket to a show and be in an auditorium. My right to be in those spaces goes back to that experience. Despite some people’s opinions and behaviour, I’ve never felt like theatre is a place I shouldn’t be.

It’s so important that we regularly pick up a text to which you can connect, that presents your experiences and voice. At university, reading V. S. Naipaul was really key for me – that British experience, that experience of being of an ethnicity that is continually othered.

Hannah Khalil is an award-winning Palestinian-Irish playwright and dramatist. She is currently Writer in Residence at the Globe Theatre, where she is busy preparing for two plays opening this winter.

“I started playwriting in my early twenties, initially because I was frustrated as an actor by the parts available at the time and by the portrayal of Arabs, more generally, in the media – either completely absent or, if there, represented as terrorists. So, I wanted to start writing Arab characters … In addition, I was often having conversations about sexism, prejudice or racism where I didn’t have the words to be able to say the things I wanted to say – or I ’d have questions, or want to understand someone else’s point of view – so I would write my frustrations and my plays evolved from those moments.

“The most important thing we need in the world right now is empathy – and the ability to see things from other people’s points of view.”

Through drama you are asking young people to stand in someone else’s shoes and say their words. The connection, and the understanding that brings, helps with so many skills – social, conflict resolution – and being able to navigate some of the really difficult events taking place in the world at the moment.”

mezze eade is Talent Development Manager at the Donmar Warehouse and an Education Associate at The Old Vic.

Photo by Richard Saker

“When you read something that resonates with your experience, you want to read more and seek that reading pleasure and your curiosity leads you to many ethnicities, many experiences and many more stories – that is a hugely positive thing.”

“

The reason this panel is so important is because what we ’re doing – what we’ve been trying to do for a long time – is build an egalitarian sector, where the work is representative of the multicultural and intersectional lived experiences of our citizens.

Our European literary canon is of course awe-inspiring, extraordinary – a constant resource of great minds, philosophy and social thinking. Our biggest problem is that it has been the only canon we’ve referred to with any great tenacity and verve.

As a young girl, I knew I was different, and in the context of storytelling – something that felt egalitarian at its core – I realised there was so little access for me as a South Asian woman. I couldn’t see myself reflected on- or offstage. There were so few stories that spoke to my experience. I come from a family of colonial migrants. We have travelled from India, to East Africa, to Britain. Barriers to opportunities were there – in terms of career pathways but also when visiting a library and picking up a play. Everything that was feeding my imagination was from the Western, European canon.

What it meant for me, as an artist, was that when I was being offered auditions or roles they weren't in the plays of Pinter, Chekov, Ibsen, Shakespeare, Arthur Miller, etc. These parts were mainly reserved for my white peers. As an Asian woman I felt shut out, and of no value. I had to forge my own way and look to the work that spoke to and for me.

This led me to working with Global Majority artists who were as hungry as me – and my journey to working with new writing began. Through this work I have understood the extraordinary beauty of our multicultural voice and the intersectionality and nuance Global Majority artists bring by telling our stories and reclaiming our histories.”

“

If I was 13 and I had access to some of these plays, it would have changed my life, and it absolutely would have given me the confidence that I got in my later 30s.”

Bloomsbury Lit in Colour: Our Lit in Colour advisors

Pooja Ghai is Artistic Director at Tamasha and an award-winning director, actor and mentor.

Photo by Bettina Adela

Drama (excluding Shakespeare) is not compulsory in the GCSE English Literature specification, yet GCSE exam data from 2019 – the most reliable data available at time of writing – shows that 79% of candidates answered a question on a drama text.1 At A Level, there is a more deliberate focus on drama, with the study of a play being a core component for four out of the five awarding bodies in England and Wales. The popularity of drama texts in the curriculum reflects a preference for teaching drama compared to prose; 32% of survey respondents preferred to teach a drama text, in contrast to 18% preferring prose. As one teacher told us, “teaching drama provides an opportunity for more students to get engaged and feel confident with the text. Some prose works have dense language and can be intimidating for students.”

Interviewees reflected how teaching drama can be a positive experience for students. They find it more accessible than other genres and enjoy aspects of interactivity where they read and act out the text. However, in recent years, education policy has stripped away drama, music and the creative arts from the core curriculum. Budget and resources for creative subjects in schools is being lost, reports the Public Campaign for the Arts. This is reflected in funding cuts to arts courses – including drama – in further education in England since 2021.

The popularity of drama texts within the English Literature curriculum reflects the importance of drama as an option. Excluding Shakespeare, there were 48 different plays available for examination in 2019. An Inspector Calls was the most popular choice for the post-1914 British text (prose or play) for three of the four main exam boards in England in 2019, with 349,337 candidates.2

The Lit in Colour report of 2021, published by Penguin Books UK and Runnymede Trust, noted that, in English Literature curricula, poetry is the area where we see most representation. Particularly at GCSE and A Level, teachers have more freedom in the choice of poems to study in class. Introducing new prose or drama into the syllabus is a bigger undertaking and requires more time and energy from teachers who are already time-poor. The Lit in Colour research found that “just 0.7% of students answered a question on a novel by a writer of colour at GCSE” (Lit in Colour, page 26). Despite the popularity of drama as a genre, 0% of students answered on a drama text by a writer of colour, in 2019 assessments.3

“Diversifying the curriculum is good for all of our students. Teaching English, we’re in quite a privileged position to have discussions about these big themes and ideas. The impact of it can potentially go far beyond the classroom; it can make our students more empathetic, understanding, sensitive individuals.”

Zoe Tromans, King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls – A Lit in Colour Pioneer Pilot School

Teachers told us that they also have more freedom at KS3 to choose diverse texts as the curriculum is not prescribed by exam specifications. Given the limited choice at KS4 and 5, KS3 is a place where teachers could have more freedom to introduce drama texts from diverse writers. However, a UKLA funded research project into what is being taught at KS3 revealed that Malorie Blackman was the only Black author to appear on the top ten novel choices for KS3, with Noughts & Crosses, and that no playwrights of colour appear in any of the top text choices (Lit in Colour, 2021).

1 We have referred to exam data from 2019 since no exam live series took place in 2020 or 2021 for which data is available and text choices were amended due to COVID-19. Although new set texts have been introduced since then, these are for first assessment in 2022 or 2024.

2 2019 exam data cited in 2021 Penguin Books Lit in Colour report, pages 23–4, or provided directly by the exam boards. The figures depend on examiners entering question numbers correctly into the online systems, so there is a level of human error incorporated into the numbers.

3 This percentage has been calculated from data cited in 2021 Penguin Books Lit in Colour report, pages 23–4.

“When children act out, they don’t just act out reality, they act out their fears, their dreams.”

Geoff Readman, National Drama

“The most important thing is to have accurate performances of the texts available to watch … If productions could be filmed for the sheer purpose of educational use, then that would be amazing!

Although the focus of our report is drama in the English Literature curriculum, our research found a similar lack of ethnic diversity in Drama as a standalone subject. Out of 35 GCSE Drama set texts, 29 are written by white playwrights and, of the four main exam boards in England, one had no ethnically diverse representation through set drama texts (until the introduction of two new set texts for examination in 2024). Playwright Emteaz Hussain commented that this “[lack of representation of non-white dramatists] is jaw dropping … Especially when, like me, you’re aware of the vast array of work over decades from people of colour artists and how they’ ve been the touchstone, inspiration and companionship for my own work and art” (Open Drama UK, page 3), though it is important to note that since Open Drama UK’ s report, all exam boards have made changes to their set texts to improve diversity (see page 15).

Drama in peformance

Through our interviews, teachers told us that one of the key challenges in teaching Drama is making sure that students understand that drama is an experience and a performance, not just text on a page. They need to develop an appreciation and understanding of the impact of stage directions, sets and action on stage. This is why having access to staged performances –whether live or recorded – is so important. Despite this, a 2015 English Literature curriculum change removed the necessity for students to go to a production, leading to systemic changes in teaching Drama within the English Literature curriculum that are difficult for individual teachers to counter. Teachers told us that they can, to some extent, fill in gaps with other resources, such as creating worksheets, but they cannot show students a production if it is not currently being performed or a recording does not exist.

With a further decrease in the number of students taking Drama – down 30% since 2010 – it's clear that more needs to be done to promote engagement with the subject and revitalise its delivery.

“Without seeing a filmed or live performance, it can be a challenge for students to understand the importance and impact of stagecraft, such as the writer’s use of lighting, costume or music.

In England in 2019,

79%

of GCSE English Literature candidates answered an exam question on a drama text. 349,337 students answered on An Inspector Calls.

©

Bloomsbury Lit in Colour: Drama in the English Literature syllabus

Drama in the English Literature syllabus

From Drama Online: The Tempest from the Donmar Shakespeare Trilogy on Screen collection. © Photo by Helen Maybanks

From Drama Online: Barber Shop Chronicles 2017 production

Photo by Marc-Brenner

Survey respondent

Amy Johnson, Cheltenham Ladies’ College

Up until now, there has been relatively little room for diverse voices in the drama set texts on offer. Under the 2022 examination specifications, 90% of drama set texts at GCSE and 96% at A Level English Literature are written by white playwrights. Unsurprisingly then, 0% of GCSE English Literature candidates answered an exam question on a play by a Global Majority writer in 2019.

Data on exam answers shows that An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestley is by far the most widely taught text for GCSE English Literature, with 65% of candidates in 2019 answering a question on it.4 While only one of our survey respondents was currently teaching Refugee Boy, 89% were teaching An Inspector Calls, which corroborates

the Lit in Colour research findings that “over time schools are converging on An Inspector Calls as their modern text of choice” (Lit in Colour, page 25). Teachers told us that the level of accessibility for students, their enjoyment, the breadth of available resources, and confidence in teaching the text are the main advantages to teaching An Inspector Calls. In interviews with young people, one student also reflected their enjoyment of studying An Inspector Calls, but took issue with the fact that “[the texts studied are] all written by heterosexual cis white men, which isn’t firstly good representation, but also means no variation in perspective” (Lit in Colour, page 27).

Awarding body

Under the current specifications, 4 Candidate entry data taken from 2021 Penguin Books Lit in Colour report pages 23–4 or provided directly by the exam boards. We can only say how many candidates answered on a given text, but this is a reasonable proxy for the number of students who studied that text. 5 We have referred to exam data from 2019 since no exam live series took place in 2020 or 2021 for which data is available and text choices were amended due to COVID-19. Although new set texts have been introduced since then, these are for first assessment in 2022 or 2024.

is being taught?

A positive change for play teaching from 2022

Just two years on from the launch of the Lit in Colour campaign, we can start to see the efforts that are being made by all five major awarding bodies in England and Wales to diversify the play set texts within both GCSE and A Level specifications for English Literature and Drama.

From September 2019, Pearson Edexcel offered The Empress by Tanika Gupta and Refugee Boy adapted by Lemn Sissay from the novel by Benjamin Zephaniah at GCSE English Literature. In 2022, Les Blancs by Lorraine Hansberry and Sweat by Lynn Nottage were added at A Level to the English Literature specification. The GCSE plays were donated by Bloomsbury as part of the first Lit in Colour Pioneers Pilot Programme in 2021, and the A level novels, Home Fire and A Thousand Splendid Suns were added to the Lit in Colour Pioneers donation in 2022.

Pearson Edexcel also added A Doll’s House adapted by Tanika Gupta, Antigone adapted by Roy Williams, The Free9 by In-Sook Chappell and Gone Too Far! by Bola Agbaje (all published as part of Methuen Drama’s Plays for Young People series) to their Plays in Performance GCSE Drama specification in 2021.

From September 2022, OCR have replaced My Mother Never Said I Should with Winsome Pinnock’ s Leave Taking as the modern drama option for GCSE English Literature, and introduced Nina Raine’ s Tribes and Inua Ellams’ s Barber Shop Chronicles for A Level Language and Literature, both for assessment in 2024 and 2025.

Eduqas also updated its GCSE English Literature specification for first teaching in September 2023 with first assessment in 2025 with Leave Taking by Winsome Pinnock. WJEC, the Welsh examination board, updated its A Level Drama specifications, for first teaching from September 2023, with new options including A Doll’ s House adapted by Tanika Gupta and Leave Taking by Winsome Pinnock.

AQA, the largest awarding body in England, introduced new set plays to its GCSE Drama specification by Global Majority playwrights for first teaching in September 2022 with first assessment in 2024. The plays include The Empress by Tanika Gupta and The Great Wave by Francis Turnly at GCSE, and The Convert by Danai Gurira and Three Sisters by Inua Ellams at A Level.

At the time of writing the report, AQA also announced changes to its set texts list for GCSE English Literature. From September 2023 with first assessment in 2025, teachers will have the option to teach one of two new modern drama texts: Princess & The Hustler by Chinonyerem Odimba and Leave Taking by Winsome Pinnock.

Bloomsbury Lit in Colour: What is being taught?

By 2025, English Literature students in England and Wales will have the option to choose from

new modern play texts by writers of colour at GCSE and A Level.

In our interviews, teachers talked about the need to expose pupils to a diverse range of literature. Sometimes this is driven by a need to reflect the diversity of the student cohort and ensure that pupils can see themselves represented in literature. It can equally be driven by a need to expose students to a diversity of thinking and ensure they hear voices that are not like theirs.

Teachers also told us that the context in which diverse characters are presented is important. One survey respondent told us they “would like to see recommendations for texts by and including protagonists from varying ethnic backgrounds in which the characters are living full and rich lives and in which ‘ race ’ or ‘struggle’ are not the key or only main themes.”

While work has begun on adding diversity to the set text lists, it does not mean that all teachers will necessarily choose these texts. More needs to be done to provide appropriate resources to ensure teachers switch from their tried-and-tested set texts.

In our survey, 66% of respondents said that they would like more support to teach texts that tackle issues relating to race or ethnicity – especially around having difficult conversations with students and having the right language to discuss these issues. This is reflected in the 2021 Penguin Books Lit in Colour report that just "12% of secondary ... respondents to the survey reported having had training on how to talk about race as part of their initial teacher training course" (Lit in Colour, page 43). Work is already being done to improve the support available to teachers by many of the exam boards, publishers and drama organisations. Bloomsbury work with their authors and playwrights to create additional teacher resources that support their play texts, such as their free online teacher resources pages with author Q&As and classroom discussion guides. Representation in Drama is working with exam boards to provide resources to “support secondary school teachers, directors, facilitators, lecturers and students with finding texts that reflect their own culture and/or heritage, and to introduce students to cultures and

0%

of students answered an exam question on a play by a Global Majority writer in 2019 in England.

heritages different to their own” (RinD Play List, Introduction). Elsewhere, the National Theatre offers teaching resources that feature educational films on The Free9 by In-Sook Chappell, a newly offered text in the Pearson Edexcel GCSE Drama specification. Such support can enable English and Drama teachers to choose diverse texts for their students and teach them with confidence.

Of the teachers we surveyed, 65% said there was a demand from their students to study more ethnically diverse writers. Ellie Gorman, Head of English at a boys’ grammar school, reflected the potential impact of overhauling the curriculum to include more diversity, and how this has increased take-up of English Literature at A Level:

“Redesigning our curriculum to include more diverse texts increased our intake for A Level English Literature from five to 25 within a year. It was a big leap to get people on board but it paid off … it’s suddenly more interesting, more relevant.”

Despite the barriers to change,

93%

of the teachers we surveyed said that they would like to see a more ethnically diverse range of writers offered by exam boards.

There are currently just

2drama set texts by Global Majority writers available at A Level English Literature.

Championing change with the Lit in Colour Pioneers Pilot programme

Kristi Simpson is Assistant Head of English at a comprehensive secondary school in Worcestershire which has recently joined the Lit in Colour Pioneers Pilot programme. She is an advocate for diversity in the English curriculum and views it as an entry point to exposing students to different perspectives and discussing social topics. Kristi believes that it is our responsibility as members of a global society to learn about other cultures and ethnicities and sees drama as a way of accessing that learning.

The school joined the programme partly because of a need to expose students to diverse stories and voices with which they otherwise would not interact. Kristi has been preparing to teach Tanika Gupta’ s The Empress to GCSE students in September 2022 and has found it both challenging and exciting to be teaching something new. The Empress is contextually very rich and has a lot to do with England’s historical background but from perspectives that her students may not have engaged with before. It’s important that students hear those, especially on stage.

“It’s our responsibility as members of this global society, and not just this town that we live in, to learn about other societies, cultures and ethnicities … It’s not just a book that they’re reading, but has to do with us being members of a global society.”

Following the school’s decision to study The Empress, the school has had a chance to reinvigorate students’ engagement with literature through the Lit in Colour Pioneer Student Conference. Kristi commented that some older students even expressed jealousy that they had not been given the option to study a similar text. She has noticed that students respect their teachers more for initiating conversations about race, nationality and languages that come about through the teaching of diverse texts. She acknowledges that teachers need to be more comfortable having these conversations and believes that the way to approach that can be through literature.

Kristi Simpson, Droitwich Spa High School – a Lit in Colour Pioneer Pilot School

Kristi feels that the Lit in Colour Pioneers Pilot programme is much needed – both at her school and more widely. As a result of the programme, their English department has become more aware of the fact that they are not engaging the full diversity of their cohort, and have used the opportunity to start introducing more diversity to their KS3 curriculum.

Bloomsbury Lit in Colour: Case study

The Empress RSC 2013 Production: Photo by Steve Tanner © RSC

“What should be the joy of Lit in Colour is that there will be a point when it isn’t necessary.” mezze

Knowledge and confidence

One of the main themes identified through our research was teachers’ perceptions of their own lack of knowledge and confidence, preventing them from teaching more diverse texts. In total, 66% of survey respondents said that they would like specific support to teach texts that tackle issues relating to race or ethnicity, otherwise, as one interviewee told us, they “worry about saying the wrong thing, or doing the wrong thing, or not getting a part of the story.” Some teachers who are from a white background told us they feel that they do not have the authority to “properly teach the background about the culture and the historical period” and are conscious that they may need to bring in alternative voices to the classroom.

“A lot of teachers we speak to think that they’ve got to be the expert [in all texts they are studying], that they have to say this or that, because that’s what’s going to be on the curriculum or the checklist.”

Rob

, Theatre Centre

Potential solutions in this area were raised by survey respondents and roundtable participants, recognising that the goal is to learn, not to become an expert. Some teachers feel that training to support them having conversations with students on these issues would be welcome. For example, in response to a lack of teacher confidence, Rob Watt told us that the Theatre Centre has “set up a CPD session for teachers to come to a pre-show so that they know what to expect, and so we can offer suggestions on how to create that safe space and ask great questions.”

There is also an awareness that having the right language to discuss these issues is important, and that it is necessary to understand the intent of the author and the choices they made in terms of the language they use.

One teacher told us: “In relation to particular texts, you want the author to say ‘this is the terminology I’ ve used in the text’ or ‘this is the terminology that I would recommend you use in your class’ – an acknowledgement at the outset of what the sensitivities are, what their intent was in writing it, so that students know the writer isn’t trying to cause offence or to stereotype or marginalise.” While it is important for teachers to be mindful of the language they are using, it is also important to assure teachers that it is OK to make mistakes, and that it is necessary to create safe spaces for both teachers and students to explore ideas without fear of judgement.

“I used to say at the start of my sessions 'If something I’ve said is offensive to someone, or for whatever reason triggers anybody, please make me aware of that.' I think making that clear makes the space more comfortable for both the educators and the students.”

66%

of survey respondents said

tackle issues relating to race or ethnicity.

Watt

Dr. Aanchal Vij, Editorial Assistant, Bloomsbury

“The best thing for me as a teacher was coming home at the end of the day and feeling that I’ve learnt more than my students!”

Rhodri Jones, Subject Officer for English, Eduqas

they would like more support to teach texts that

Resources and support

With the right support and resources in place, 84% of respondents said they would be likely to choose a new drama text for GCSE English Literature. We asked teachers about the support they need when teaching drama set texts. The top three resources respondents listed were:

• Recordings of performances (67%)

• Model student answers to exam questions (65%)

• Resources on social/cultural context (57%)

However, it is clear that taking on a new text is a massive undertaking. Research participants talked about the need for teachers to undertake “hundreds of hours of research, reading academic articles, reading critical opinion, then trying to condense that into a palatable form for students” before they feel they “know all about the historical and social context and that we’ve got real depth and breadth of understanding.” One survey respondent suggested that there may be a role for publishers and exam boards to support this work by giving teachers a head start:

“I would love my school to try out new texts, but it is mainly a case of what we have already, and what teachers have good subject knowledge about. If there were 'teacher texts' … and CPD available specifically on the subject knowledge then I think more teachers would feel confident embracing change.”

Some of this work is already being done for new set texts. Indeed, Bloomsbury is working with exam boards to publish the new chosen set texts and create new

Student Editions of plays that include introductory notes on the social and historical context of the plays as well as analysis of the plays themselves. Bloomsbury also hosts recorded and audio play productions on Drama Online, the award-winning digital library for schools and universities.

Our Lit in Colour advisor mezze eade, alongside Romana Flello as part of Representation in Drama, also provide online training for teachers and support guides in collaboration with exam boards.

Aside from providing access to recorded performances, the roundtable panel noted that some of the concerns teachers have around bringing drama to life in the classroom could be addressed with changes to teacher training. English teachers, in particular, may not necessarily have been exposed to drama as a performance discipline in any of their studies which is likely to have focused more on studying texts. This can lead to less confidence in teaching drama compared to prose or poetry.

It was also felt that, when it comes to talking about race and ethnicity in the classroom, this should and could be embedded in PGCE training more widely – it is happening in pockets throughout the UK but not in a consistent way. The next generation of teachers should be taught how to be comfortable with difficult issues.

Drama Online: Theatre Performance and Practice Video Library. © Pumpkin Interactive 2015

“The easiest way to talk about race is to have a grounding and understanding about it.” Nels Abbey, Black Writers Guild

“If I don’t have a worksheet or a revision guide, those are easy for me to make. But I can’t recreate what happens on a stage.” Survey respondent

Pushback and structural barriers

Participants reflected that some of the issues raised in the research, particularly those around bringing performances to life in the classroom and broadening text choices, are related to wider issues in schools and education. A 2022 Ofsted review of English said that “through studying literature, pupils’ eyes are opened to the human experience.” However, the report suggests that the introduction of “a greater range of perspectives” can lead to “significant, influential texts being removed from the curriculum or texts being included only because they address contemporary issues rather than due to literary merit” (Research review series: English). Teachers also told us that they can experience pushback from parents or senior leadership when they try to introduce diverse new texts. It is important to note that the Lit in Colour campaign is not about removing texts. Diverse authors can be studied alongside our heritage texts by widening the scope of what we present as 'literature' within the subject.

A teacher also shared that even when new texts are offered by exam boards, many teachers prefer to wait until the text has been through a few exam cycles. This is so that evidence is available of the approach being taken in the assessment, and there is a bank of past papers available. A focus on exams and results necessarily leads to a risk-averse climate where teachers and sometimes senior leaders have difficulty in changing their approach or teaching a new and unproven text.

“Because the pressures are so great, I think that it’ s very, very difficult to move away from a text which has been successful for schools. So it’s a bit of a leap of faith, without the resources or the reassurance of having seen a set of results, to take a risk and switch to a different text.”

Paul Stover, Curriculum Support Manager Creative Arts, AQA

While the stakes may be seen as too high to broach a new text at exam level, AQA's Curriculum Manager for English Laura Dunster suggested that building teachers

confidence with new texts in a lower-stakes environment at KS3 might give them the confidence to then take those steps at KS4 with new exam texts.

Another barrier is the pressure on school budgets and lack of resourcing. This makes it more difficult than ever for teachers to fund access to live theatre or buy new class sets of texts. Even if theatres and the cultural sector can make more performances available or offer CPD for teachers, there are financial constraints that can stop schools and teachers accessing what is on offer.

With the right support and resources,

84%

survey respondents said

English Literature.

Bloomsbury Lit in Colour: Barriers and solutions

’

“It’s becoming increasingly difficult to support teachers with resources and with CPD because of the other barriers and pressures teachers face.”

Romana Flello, Kiln Theatre

of

they would be likely to choose a new drama text for GCSE

of survey respondents said there is a desire from their students to include more ethnically diverse writers.

1. Empowering teachers to take a different approach

Redefine the rules of engagement so teachers and students can learn together.

Empowering teachers to take a different approach –both in their teaching of drama and in the way they encourage and deal with discussion of race and ethnicity – does not mean they need to become experts. Rather, as OCR’s A Level English subject advisor Isobel Woodger suggests, “teachers need to be prepared to de-centre themselves … I think one of the things that’s most important is drawing on the experiences of everybody in the room. The adults’ job in that room is to manage that conversation with compassion, and to establish really clear ground rules for everyone.”

One panel member pointed out that feeling discomfort about teaching more diverse texts was an indication in itself of white privilege, so it is important not to overemphasise a difference, and make sure that all texts are treated in the same way. One way to help teachers

feel comfortable in talking about difficult issues was presented by Rob Watt from the Theatre Centre, on how they use safeguarding as a context in which to think about how teachers can “set up rules of engagement” and create safe spaces for students and teachers to discuss together.

Discussing issues of race and ethnicity through literature does not necessarily mean a complete overhaul of texts. Reframing the way we teach and learn about current texts offers the opportunity to teach them alongside new ones, or through a different lens. As Pooja Ghai pointed out, “a great way of bridging that gap [between old and new] is looking at adaptations. Tanika Gupta’ s Great Expectations is a great example of looking at Dickens through a diverse lens, and could be a useful tool for schools with different cultures to identify with.”

2. Working together: The role of the cultural sector

Work with directors, playwrights and theatres to open up conversations and engage a wider audience.

The panel noted that diversifying drama should not only be a priority for education, but also needs addressing in the cultural sector. Playwright Tanika Gupta told us about the difficulty she had experienced working with British theatres: “I’ve often felt that it’s a bit of an uphill battle, getting [culturally diverse] plays on stage, and then getting people to come and see them and getting [theatres] to actually put them on again.” Getting culturally diverse plays seen by a wider audience – of both students and the general public – is a first step to bringing them into the mainstream. Given that of the teachers we surveyed, 67% said that recordings of performances would support them in teaching drama texts, if the only recordings available are of current popular and canonised plays, then it is difficult for teachers to make the transition to new texts.

When diverse texts do make it into theatres and onto the school curriculum, it was felt that more could be done to engage with the playwrights themselves. It was suggested that there needs to be more opportunity for playwrights to talk about their work and how they see the context, and for schools and teachers to engage with playwrights directly – for example through social media or other online platforms.

3. Working together: The role of exam boards

Support schools during the transition to new texts, and focus on building teachers’ confidence in teaching them.

Exam boards have an evident role in determining the curriculum through the choice of texts that appear on the syllabus and through the assessment resources they provide. Model student answers to exam questions was the second most-popular drama resource chosen by teachers in our survey. Another way exam boards can support teachers to make changes includes a focus on reducing the pressures teachers are under. This includes a focus on reducing teachers’ anxiety about teaching new texts without the safety net of extensive resources and past papers. Part of this work is understanding what knowledge is and isn’t needed to succeed. It can be fruitful to start by exploring the interpretations students and teachers bring to those texts so that teachers can challenge and develop personal responses and social contexts, bringing in external sources.

for English, Eduqas

“As an exam board, I think we have a responsibility as well to take risks and to put new texts on exam papers and to take away the more popular texts … in order to serve not just schools and teachers, but also students and the wider community.”

Rhodri Jones, Subject Officer

“For the teacher to be able to talk to the playwright would be very empowering.”

Tanika Gupta, Playwright

Online drama resources for schools

Tamasha

In 2025, Tamasha celebrates 35 years: a rare achievement for a Global Majority-led company. We’ ve challenged prevailing conventions, widened our remit to represent all Global Majority communities, launched careers, premiered future classics, stirred audiences and led the debate on what diverse theatre can be. We are a mainstay of British culture, a critical part of the creative ecology and a major contributor to diversifying the sector.

Tamasha is a pioneering organisation and has remained a steadfast warrior of British theatre over the last three decades; it is a space where artists from the Global Majority can explore the prism of their lived experiences whilst embracing the pride of their cultural heritages. Tamasha’ s core work is focused around early-mid-career and established artists in the industry; however, we are acutely aware of the need for access to Global Majority stories for our young people.

Supporting schools with online resources

Tamasha’s response to school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic was to produce Bitesize Playwriting, a collaborative project with Methuen Drama, resulting in an ebook made up of short plays by young people in secondary education. In a series of short videos, the Tamasha playwrights 2019/20 group guided students through the playwriting process.

“Tamasha is a mirror reflecting a nation of continuing change and creativity, of mixings and mergings. British culture needs reminding that it has always been global. Tamasha’s stirring, audacious work makes sure the nation never forgets what it is.”

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, cultural commentator

The Power of Persuasion is a package of secondary PSHE resources for secondary schools, hosted on Bloomsbury's Drama Online platform, which uses the world and characters from Tamasha’ s hit 2019 production Does My Bomb Look Big In This? by Nyla Levy to explore the subject of internet safety. Four 90-minute workshops guide students through a series of practical drama exercises, presented as audio files by actors in role.

Pooja Ghai, Artistic Director, Tamasha

Our educational system, curriculum and exam boards still have a long way to go to redress the balance of representation and racial equality. We need more teachers from diverse backgrounds, more works of literature on the curriculum that celebrate the multiplicity of voices, histories and cultures that reflect the country we live in. The curriculum needs to reflect the community it is designed for, and not disregard the importance of representation despite facing funding cuts, regional disparities and lack of access for students to technology and devices they may need.

Does My Bomb Look Big In This? Tamasha. Photo by Bettina Adela

Experiencing text in performance National Theatre

As a National Theatre, we believe in making world-class theatre that is entertaining, challenging and inspiring, and making it for everyone. To truly be a theatre for everyone, we need to make our work as accessible as possible and also make sure that it reflects the diversity of the country we live in.

We are also acutely aware of the challenges faced by schools, and want to support them as best we can. Our Learning programmes aim to introduce a broad range of theatre, bringing it to life in the classroom. Ideally, any student, anywhere in the country should be able to find a production that they can relate to.

Programmes like Connections (our annual youth theatre festival) and New Views (our annual playwriting programme) have been instrumental in exposing students and teachers to a range of plays for many years. Connections commissions ten new plays a year which are then published into an annual anthology by Methuen Drama. These are plays about humanity, which tell a wide range of stories from around the world.

In 2019, we launched the National Theatre Collection, which enables schools to stream 50 productions whenever they want via Bloomsbury’s Drama Online digital platform. It is free of charge to UK state schools. Alongside Shakespeare and classics (many of which are set texts), it also features exciting contemporary plays by writers including Winsome Pinnock and Michaela Coel. We are currently working to create resources and training for teachers for new GCSE and A Level set texts, and are also supporting an academy chain as they create a new module around Small Island for KS3. Key to all of this work is the opportunity to experience the text in performance.

Another resource for schools is the Black Plays Archive, an online catalogue of the first professional production of every African, Caribbean and Black British play produced in the UK. It is a great place to search for new plays to perform, particularly for GCSE and A Level drama groups.

Jane Ball, Education Manager, National Theatre

Bloomsbury Lit in Colour: Case study

Three Sisters 2019 Production. Photo by The Other Richard

Bloomsbury is extremely grateful to all those who contributed to this research report. True collaboration is how we bring about change and we have been overwhelmed by the support we have received from so many organisations and individuals that are as passionate about drama and performance as we are.

We could not have conducted any of this research without the amazing contributions from the English and Drama teachers all across the country. Thank you for taking the time to feed back your concerns and wishes. We hope that the findings and outcomes of this initiative will continue to support your classroom teaching.

Warmest thanks go to our three advisors – mezze eade, Pooja Ghai and Hannah Khalil – for your support, guidance and words of wisdom.

Thank you to our wonderful research partners – Jane Ball from the National Theatre and Ali Warren from Open Drama UK – who have given up their time to support us with this research. We would also like to extend our thanks to the Lit in Colour team at Penguin Books UK – Zaahida Nabagereka and Rochelle Saunders – and Katy Lewis at the Lit in Colour Pioneers Pilot programme at Pearson for enabling us to be Partners on this important campaign and for their continued guidance throughout our research.

We are also thankful to all the representatives from publishers, awarding bodies, theatre organisations, playwrights and practitioners who attended our Roundtable Event and contributed to the discussions and findings within this report:

Jane Ball | National Theatre

Gareth Roberts | National Theatre

Ola Animashawun | National Theatre

Alison Warren | Open Drama UK

Rochelle Saunders | Penguin Random House

mezze eade | Donmar Warehouse

Pooja Ghai | Tamasha

Tanika Gupta | Playwright

Romana Flello | Kiln Theatre

Chris White | Royal Shakespeare Company

Nelson Abbey | The Black Writers’ Guild

Isobel Woodger | OCR

Laura Dunster | AQA

Paul Stover | AQA

Rhodri Jones | Eduqas Wyn Jones | WJEC

Rob Watt | Theatre Centre

Lesley Nelson-Addy | Runnymede Trust Geoff Readman | National Drama Jenny Stevens | Educational Author

We look forward to working with you all over the days and months as we collaborate to create change. Images found within this report were kindly provided by the RSC, Tamasha, the National Theatre, the Donmar Theatre and Bloomsbury Drama Online.

References

Bloomsbury (n.d.), Student Editions [Online]. Available at: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/series/student-editions/ (Accessed 21/09/22)

Bloomsbury (n.d.), English and Drama for Schools [Online]. Available at: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/discover/superpages/academic/drama-for-schools-homepage/

Drama Online (n.d.), ‘Drama without Borders: Stories of migrants and refugees’ [Online]. Available at: www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/ (Accessed 21/09/22)

Drama Online (n.d.), ‘The Power of Persuasion’ [Online]. Available at: www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/the-power-of-persuasion (Accessed 21/09/22)

Elliott, V., Nelson-Addy, L., Chantiluke, R. & Courtney, M. (2021) Lit in Colour Diversity in Literature in English Schools. London: Penguin & Runnymede Trust.

Fisk, H. (25/08/22), ‘GCSE drama entries decrease further amid calls for urgent reforms’, Drama & Theatre [Online]. Available at: www.dramaandtheatre.co.uk/news/article/gcse-drama-entries-decrease-further-amid-calls-for-urgentreforms (accessed 05/10/22)

Harris, G. (22/07/21), ‘UK government approves 50% funding cut for arts and design courses’, The Art Newspaper [Online]. Available at: www.theartnewspaper.com/2021/07/22/uk-government-approves-50percent-funding-cut-forarts-and-design-courses (Accessed 21/09/22)

National Theatre (n.d.), Black Plays Archive [Online]. Available at: blackplaysarchive.org.uk (Accessed 05/10/22)

National Theatre (n.d.), Connections [Online]. Available at: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/learning/connections (Accessed 25/10/22)

National Theatre (n.d.), New Views [Online]. Available at: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/learning/schools/secondary-and-fe/new-views (Accessed 25/10/22)

National Theatre (n.d.), Resource Packs and Rehearsal Diaries [Online]. Available at: www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/learning/schools/secondary-and-fe/resource-packs-list (Accessed 21/09/22)

Ofqual (2013), Reforms to GCSEs in England from 2015 [Online]. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov. uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/529385/2013-11-01-reforms-to-gcses-in-englandfrom-2015-summary.pdf (Accessed 05/10/22)

Ofsted (2022), Research review series: English [Online]. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/curriculum-research-review-series-english (Accessed 05/10/22)

Open Drama UK (n.d.), ‘Developing a representative drama curriculum’ [Online]. Available at: www.dtealliance.co.uk/_files/ugd/1f9ce4_84cee8adbf1d4274ac45361ea5e05c61.pdf (Accessed 21/09/22)

Public Campaign for the Arts (n.d.), ‘Rishi Sunak – keep your promises to fund arts activities for young people’ [Online]. Available at: www.campaignforthearts.org/petitions/rishi-sunak-keep-your-promises-to-fund-arts-activitiesfor-young-people/ (Accessed 21/09/22)

Racial Equity Tools, ‘Racial Equity Tools Glossary’ (n.d.) [Online]. Available at: www.racialequitytools.org/glossary (Accessed 19/08/22)

Representation in Drama (n.d.), 150 plays by Playwrights from the global majority [Online]. Available at: https:// d19lfjg8hluhfw.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/25111519/RinD-Play-List-3.pdf (Accessed 21/09/22)

Royal Court Theatre (n.d.), ‘Representation in Drama’ [Online]. Available at: https://royalcourttheatre.com/what-else/opencourt/representation-in-drama-gone-too-far/ (Accessed 21/09/22)

Tamasha (2021), Bitesize Playwriting [Online]. Available at: tamasha.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Bitesize_Playwrighting_Booklet.pdf (Accessed 05/10/22)

WJEC (2019), ‘WJEC Legacy and Revised New Wales Final GCSE Results’ [Online]. Available at: www.wjec.co.uk/media/a1ep0gcx/final-results-june-2019.pdf (Accessed 26/08/22)

Bloomsbury Lit in Colour: References

In collaboration with

www.bloomsbury.com/LitinColour

A campaign created by Penguin Books UK and The Runnymede Trust, to support UK schools to make the teaching and learning of English Literature more inclusive.

Produced by Oriel Square Ltd on behalf of Bloomsbury